What an eventful day that was...
It turned out the little sister the boy Yamada was searching for was Yamada,
and both of them were using fake names.
And then three days later,
Yamada the girl...
is at my house.
Takanashi, tea!
Hey, Yamada.
Yamada would like cold tea.
Course 7 Goodbye Yamada
Yamada...
What? They were just getting to the good part.
It's a special exposé on teenage runaways.
Teenage runaways!
They probably tell the kids to go home.
That includes you!
Yamada didn't run away from home.
You're not going to fool me again.
You let Yamada stay here, so the assumption is that you're Yamada's ally.
We're not allies!
I couldn't have you running off again, so I'm keeping you under supervision for now.
Plus, Yamada, your brother asked me to.
Takanashi, you're friends with him now?
No, we're not friends!
Hey, Yamada.
Tell me why you ran away from home.
Depending on the circumstances, I may be able to help you.
Takanashi...
You're acting so nice it's making me sick.
Why, you...
Kozue, say something to her.
I have no problem with her staying here. She's cute!
Yamada is the Takanashi family's mascot character!
There, there... Say "ah"...
Ah...
What a good girl!
She's more like a pet than a mascot.
Sheesh. I give up.
That aside, listen to this teenage runaway.
I don't give a damn!
Long black hair, straight bangs in the front.
A really, really cute girl.
The girl had a kind mother and father, but a worthless older brother.
She was pretty happy.
But then her father died one day.
This is suddenly a downer.
Her mother changed after that.
She stopped talking, was always grim, and forced Yamada...
That is, she forced the girl to study all the time.
Um, I-I'm sorry.f
I failed all my entrance exams.
The girl became scared of studying
and hated to read the books her mother foisted on her.
M-Mom, I can't read a huge book like that.
Just read it.
She was so scared.
Go home for now.
Souma protected Yamada because he knew about this?
Even so, the girl stayed strong.
But then something happened that was hard for her to bear.
Nothing good happened today,
so let's eat special natto!
It wasn't all that great. Your big brother.
I decided to run away from home.
For that?!
Yamada, you poor thing!
You can join our family!
I will!
Aoi Takanashi...
I'll be family with everyone else here, too!
A-A trivial cause...
But I can't say anything about her home life.
What should I do?
Takanashi is moved by Yamada's past, too.
I'm on Souta's side,
so if he intends to return Yamada to her home, I'll cooperate.
She ran away because of a trifle, but I feel sorry for her home life.
Both of them are moved by Yamada's past.
So it seems a lot happened with her mother.
Circumstances aside, I still think she'd be better off going home...
Yamada won't go.
But you can see how stubborn she is.
I see.
Well, now we know the story, so let's get back to work.
Yamada won't go home!
Yamada is planted in this chair!
No, get to work.
Work!
Is it really okay to leave Yamada like that?
I think we should inconspicuously make her want to go back home.
Yeah. I'll help.
Um, Aoi...
What?
Uh...
I'll start by chatting about something unrelated.
You know, Kyoka was...
Yamada, get out of there!
Huh? Aoi?
What should we do?
If her mom is out of the question, maybe she'll miss her brother.
I see! Kirio, right?
Yamada escaped danger with a Yamadash.
Say, Aoi.
Kirio is a good big brother, isn't he?
How so? Explain it so Yamada can understand.
L-Let's leave Yamada himself aside.
It's nice to have a big brother in general, isn't it?
They're supposed to be reliable and kind.
Right, Taneshima?
Yeah, that's great. It's nice to have a big brother.
Someone who supports you when things are tough.
You're right. Big brothers are wonderful.
Souma really is the best!
Her fictional big brother...
That's right.
The other day, Souma saved Yamada from that creep.
That creep...
He was like a knight in shining armor.
He actually loves Yamada, doesn't he?
From now on, he'll always protect Yamada from that creep.
Souma!
Huh?
Souma is off today.
Souma!
What if that creep comes back while he's off?
Look, when you were locked out of the restaurant that time,
you cried for your mom, remember?
You really want to go home, don't you?
No!
At the time,
Mama mia!
I was calling out "Mama mia" in exasperation.
It wasn't painful coming out with that just now?
Anyway, Yamada isn't going home.
So you can forget it.
What's wrong, Yachiyo?
Nothing.
We're trying to make Aoi feel like going back home, but failing miserably.
I see. Got it.
Yamada.
What is it?
Go home.
Kyoka cuts right to the chase!
You, too, Manager?
That's mean! Everybody's trying to kick Yamada out!
Aoi, you misunderstand.
Yamada.
Otoo?
You were here?
Yeah.
Well, have some tea and calm down.
Mr. Otoo, I'm used to you being out on a journey, searching for your wife.
This time I'm worried about you, so I'll hang around a little longer.
Worried?
Adoption Papers
Everyone else, too.
No one's trying to throw you out.
They're just worried about you.
Worried?
Just because someone says things you don't like
doesn't necessarily mean they don't like you.
Are you sure?
I am.
Then everyone likes Yamada?
I think they do.
Is Yamada an idol?
Y-Yeah.
Now she's getting cocky.
Thank you, everyone!
Now Yamada knows you've been acting out of consideration for her.
Aoi, you understand?
Yes.
Yamada... Yamada...
loves all of you!
So going home is never going to happen!
Yamada is standing firm!
We're right back where we started.
Well, I'm going to work.
Later!
See you later!
How long is Souta and Nazuna's friend going to stay here?
What's the difference? We have a spare bedroom.
That's not my point.
Taking care of somebody else's kid for a long stretch
is not something we should be doing.
Kazue!
Minegishi!
Hi. Your screen door was unlocked.
That's careless. Naughty.
That's trespassing!
Aoi! Aoi!
Y-Yes?
Are you waiting for someone?
No, Yamada wasn't...
Y-Yamada is waiting.
Waiting for customers.
Yamada is full of enthusiasm!
Aoi...
I suspect she's waiting for her family to pick her up.
I'm worried about Aoi.
I think she should sit down with Kirio once and really talk to him.
But who knows when she'll have the chance.
He's here!
Hi, elementary schooler!
I'm not in elementary school!
What are you doing here?
I'm here because I wasn't able to bring Aoi home the other day.
I see. He's worried about her.
Besides, after finding Aoi,
I haven't had the chance to flirt with the other girls at the restaurant.
That's why you're here?!
Kirio, talk to Aoi!
The way things stand isn't good for anyone.
You've got a good head on your shoulders for an elementary school student.
Just for today, I'll ignore that!
I've been thinking about why Aoi ran away from home...
and I figure it has something to do with our mother.
After all, I'm a perfect big brother.
Kirio...
I heard the real reason Aoi ran away was because you ate her natto.
He doesn't remember...
Natto... Huh?
W-Well, let's set that aside for now.
Did you tell your mother you found Aoi?
Of course.
And she said...
Leave her be.
Well, that's a normal reaction for Mom.
Normal?! Y-Your mother is cold.
Neither you nor Aoi is like her.
Certainly, our personalities aren't similar.
She's emotionless.
Like a robot, huh?
S-Sorry. I went too far.
"Secret Mom Manual"
I do have a manual for Mom.
You do?!
It's a secret manual I got from my dad.
Maybe if I read it...
I've got it, Kirio!
Aoi and your mother should really talk to each other!
Bring her to the restaurant!
Mom?
Yeah!
I wonder if she'll move.
So is your mother a cyborg or something like that?
Well, I dropped off the other main assistant nearby.
Oh, that woman...
That's right.
She hasn't been herself lately.
Kikuno, maybe making some tea would help you relax?
Here's your tea.
You made some for me, too? Thank you.
She's also thrown a pile of documents in my face,
and destroyed her computer.
And yet I get blamed for everything.
So cruel... So cruel...
I don't deserve such a reward.
Masochist.
She must be exhausted from working with you and my mother.
I feel sorry for her.
That's not it.
Kikuno went off the rails after her daughter ran away from home.
Welcome.
But I guess she found her recently,
working at a family restaurant, and that's where I dropped her off.
M-Mom?
Aoi...
What am I doing here?
Damn you, Aoi! The old switcheroo!
Then this is...
Yeah. Our mom.
H-Hello.
N-Nice to meet you.
She's an executive assistant.
Your mother's executive assistant, Takanashi!
What?!
That's Yamada's mother?
Are you sure it's okay to run away?
Yamada doesn't want to talk or listen to her.
I accidentally planted a listening device on Takanashi.
Now we can hear everything they say.
Souma, did you do that on purpose?
It was an accident.
Whether it was an accident or on purpose, bugging someone is illegal!
N-Nice to meet you. Thank you for helping my mother.
I'm her son, Souta.
Um, Yamada is staying over at my house.
She gets along really well with my sisters.
And helps out, in her own way.
T-That's not a conversation, Katanashi!
You're her son! Help me out here!
Takanashi is looking to me for help! I'm touched!
My mom thinks...
Thank you for taking care of my daughter.
Your mother is always so kind to me.
To think that her son has taken in my daughter...
I don't know how to thank you.
But I really appreciate it.
I'll thank you more properly at a later date.
That's how she seems to feel, pretty much.
You have to guess by her expression and her eyes.
I can't guess!
See, Mom is extremely bad at speaking.
Bad at speaking?
She has so many thoughts that she can't get them out smoothly.
She thinks so much that it leaves her with a gloomy expression.
Even when she raised me and Aoi, it was hopeless,
so Dad had to use ventriloquism for us to converse with her.
"Bad at speaking" doesn't begin to describe it then.
Even when Aoi failed those entrance tests.
As a mother, I have to comfort her.
But I don't know what to say.
I was thinking of her when I made her take those tests early.
But it's only made her lose her confidence.
And if this makes her hate studying, it won't do her any good.
For now, I'll search for study-aid books that suit her.
It went like that.
It sounds like Aoi is incompatible with her mother.
So you understand your mother, Yamada?
He said there's a manual.
Excuse me?
This is the Secret Mom Manual Dad left behind.
"Secret Mom Manual"
A mother who needs an instruction manual.
But I'm sure Aoi got one, too.
Yamada... Now this?
Yamada hasn't read it!
Yamada received it, but thought it was another study-aid book.
Yamada, you've been waiting for your mother to pick you up, right?
I-If Yamada had an ideal mother who was kinder
and didn't need an instruction manual...
Then tell your mother that.
I can't be that cruel...
You're mean, Souma.
That's right. I am mean.
Yamada can tell her! Yamada will tell her!
Ms. Yamada?
Yamada!
Aoi...
Yamada...
Yamada created the ideal family at this family restaurant,
so she doesn't need...
y...
Yamada... Yama...
Where are you going?
Yamada!
W-Why...
Yamada?
She finally talks and that's the word?
Oh. What's wrong?
M-Ma'am...
Don't cry.
Yamada...
Yamada's lost!
I'm lost, too!
Don't cry, ma'am!
I see.
You forgot to read your mother's instruction manual.
Yamada thought Mom didn't understand anything about her,
but Yamada didn't understand anything about Mom, either.
Yamada is a failure as a child.
What will become of Yamada after being a failure as a child?
Yamada who's not a child...
Yamada became an adult!
How amazing!
Yamada's grown as a person!
Good for you!
Will you go back home to your mother?
Yamada has a feeling there would still be no mutual understanding.
Like two ships passing in the night.
Two ships...
Half of my life has been spent passing my husband like that.
Half of your life? Th-That long?
That's right.
In life, we pass each other by.
That's why we're so happy when we stumble across one another.
You're very persuasive, ma'am.
I haven't been lost for half my life for nothing.
It'll be okay.
You're a wonderful girl.
Yamada is wonderful?
Yes. If you can become friends with a random passerby,
you can be close to your mother.
R-Right.
Yamada is a pro at being friendly.
Yamada will get along with Mom. Wait and see!
Yamada has to get back to apologize to Mom.
Will you come with me, ma'am?
Sure.
Mom...
Mom?
A...
A-Ao...
I'm sorr—
Mom, I'm sorry I made you worry about me.
Will she be okay?
As long as she doesn't become obstinate again.
But I wonder if Aoi's mom will be able to find her on her own.
Special missions like this are part of Mom's duties!
It'll be a cinch for her to find Aoi.
Special missions?
Takanashi, what kind of work does your mother do?
Um, one thing's for sure, I haven't heard about any special missions.
I hope it turns out all right.
Her mom went to pick her up.
And Yamada isn't all that dumb.
Souma, you really are like Yamada's big brother.
Nah...
The real one... The real one...
They're back!
Thank goodness...
She's back!
H-Haruna!
Darling!
Ahem. Thank you for all the help.
Yamada is going back home!
Two co-workers are close friends, but after a certain incident,
Course 8 Mystic Sugar
they start to feel a little different around each other.